Detachable shoe heel



Aug. 21, 1934.

w. J. COLLINS 1,970,689 DETACHABLE SHOE HEEL Filed Feb. 20, 1933Patented ug. 21, 1934 DE'rACHABLE suonv HEEL, William-J.o01-1ins,nmpuria,nans. Armicationrebruary 29,1933, serialNo.. 657,697 16- olaims." (ol. .a6-:soif

Myfinvention. relates to: a, .detachable shoe heel', C tiri-or sole.. y

f :importantA object off'- the` invention is to provideimeans'iordetachably mounting a heel 53er soleupon. the shoeii-nua manner Ywhich.will permit-of the ready separation or the heel or sole-member, andwill securely hold the same in position, in. closeL contact with the.shoe part.

; attachingI means which are entirely covered by the heel or'solemember, and are invisible in use.`

. Afurtherohiecty of' theA invention is to. prov-ide meansjfor. securelyanchoring. an attaching plate to, the heel. orsole member. 1 l

.A further object. of the. invention is'to. provide meansiordetachablyv: connecting the heel memberwith the shoeand so` constructed.that the heel is placed in position by a. forward `movement withrespect, ta the shoe, and4 is. automatically locked au; in the`operativev position..

Qther. objects andz advantagesV of the invention will; be apparent,during the. course. or the fol.

lowing description.

. In. the.v accompanying drawingrorming 'a partl zgof. this;.SpeQicatiQI1., andfin whichlike numerals are. employed to.. designatelike parts throughout the same,

Figure'll iS. a side elevation or a, heel` member embodying myinvention,..sho.wing the samein 391112,68 11pm the shoe, .l

Figure 2 isa. central verticallong-tudinal sec..- tien through the.same.

Figure 3 is. a plan` viewof the .heelmember' TemQVedt Figure 4 is. a.bottom plan View ofthe lift. of

" 'the heel, `Sharing. the attaching plate.

Figure 5 is a transverse section takenon-line 5.-,-5 of Figure 1,

Figure. fi is; a. central vertical longitudinal sec.,- ,m` tion throughthecompleted heel, showing the mode of. separation, y v Figure 'I is .atransverse section takenv on line 7--7 of Figure 1, and, Y Y

FigureV 8. is acentral vertical longitudinal sectionthrougha `heelembodying a modification or fthe invention.

, In the drawing, wherein for the. purpose ofl illus` tration is showna.- preferred embodiment of my intention, .the numeral 10 designates a.shea-of anywellknown or preferred construction, havingV a heel 11,.embodying; a lift12, formed of leather or the11k,and ai heel member. 13,preferablyA formed efV rubber.; .or the like. A

attaching platel 14, preferablyl formed of sheet metal, which isresilient. rlhe attaching plate is secured tothe lift 12 by screws 15,although other suitable means may Ybe employed, such as nails, cement,or the like. It is preferred that thev attaching means be arranged'uponthe inner portion of the attaching plate, leaving the marl ginal edgev16, of the attachingplate free; suchY -A further object' or the.invention is .to provide Aplate has its marginal edge bent inwardly uponitself for affording a socket 18, which is generally U-shaped, with itsopen end arranged forwardly. This socketv 18 is also U-shaped incross-section, with its open side disposed inwardly. This socket isadapted to receivethe marginal edge; 16 ofthe companionattaching plate.`The attaching plate 17 is mounted within a recess 19, formed in theupper face of the heel member 13, whereby the top of the socket 13- issubstantially flush with the marginal flange 20, of the heel member 13,Since this flange 20 contacts closely with the lift 12 when the heelmember is in place, the attach-`` ing means is completely covered fromView.

As more clearly shown in Figures 3 and 7,' the lower attaching plate 17has anchor elements or tongues 21, stamped therefrom, at spacedintervals, and' at points inwardly or"- the socket 18. These tongues arebent downwardly` and outward-'- 1y,` affording horizontal extensions 22,asshown. The` stamping of the tongues produce openings 23. .i The rubberheel member 13 .is preferably cast or molded about the attaching plate17, and the anchor elements or tongues 21 are embedded within thematerial of the heel member;V and portions 2 3 of the rubber also enterand become embedded within the openings 23, thereby af.- fording astrong connection between the rubber heel member and the attachingplate. y a.

The lower attaching plate 17 is provided near its forward end with.upwardly bent lockingl tongues 2.4,.disposed at. a right angle thereto.and adapted to enter notches 25, formed in the for.

Y i wardY end of the upper attachingplate 14.. jv'rifle means for.detach bly L.con.nectlng the heel 5.5. mmbel- ..13 dxh@ `lil-ft 1.2`el'nhodiesv anupper i:

The upper attaching .plate 14'is4 providedatits central longitudinalaxis` and. nearv itsxforwardV end, with a downwardly projectingspherically curved boss or lug 26, stamped therefrom, and this boss ispreferably provided with a guide groove 27, extending through thecentral longi- 5 tudinal axis of the boss. The lower companion attachingplate is provided with a spherically curved recess 28, to receive theboss 26, and this recess is disposed at the central longitudinal axis ofthe attaching plate 17. The plate 17 is provided at its forward end witha guide groove 29, which leads to the recess 28, and is disposed in thecentral longitudinal axis thereof. When the lug 26 enters the recess 28,it serves as additional means to lock the plate 17 with theplate 14,against relative rearward longitudinal movement,

and these parts also serve to co-act with an implement, such as a nail30, for withdrawing the tongues 24 from within the notches 25.

The operation of the device is as follows: When it is desired to placethe heel member 13 in position upon the lift l2, the heel memberis'brought in proximity to the rear end of the lift 12, and the socket18 is placed upon the forward end of the marginal edge 16, and the heel25 \.-v member 13 is then moved longitudinally forwardly 'with relationto the lift, until the mar-- ginal iiange has been entirely insertedwithin the socket 18, at which time the locking tongues 24 will enterthe notches 2 5 and the boss 26 will enter 303 the recess 28. The heelmember 13 is now'securelylocked against relative rearward movement withrelation to the lift 12. To separate the heel member from the lift, animplement, such as a nail, is passed through the opening 16 in theflange 15', and this nail isl guided by the groove vSand groove 27, sothat its forward end passes between the boss 26 and the recess 28, attheir central longitudinal axis. The marginal edge 16, and the wall ofthe socket being resilient, a bendraging action occurs, Yas illustratedin Figure 6, and the locking tongues 28 are withdrawn from the notches24, whereby the heel member 13 may now be shifted rearwardly, andseparated kfrom the lift 12. The marginal iiange 16 and socket 18 are45,..3 resilient and are so tensioned that they normally serve to holdthe flange 20 of the heel in rm contact with the lift, whereby theattaching means is completely concealed.

In Figure 8, I have shown a modification of 56A the invention, wherein12 designates the heel i" of a ladys shoe, and 13' the heel member ortip. Due to the fact that the tip is relativelyA thin, the attachingplate 14 cannot be embedded within this tip, and theattaching plate 14and the companion lower attaching plate 17 are, therefore, reversed. Theattaching plate 14 is mount-4 ed within a recess `formed in the lowerend of.

the heel 13', so that the marginal edge or ila-nge 16 is coveredfromside vision. The attaching 60 plate 14 is secured to the tip 13'.v Allother parts `remain substantially identical with those shown anddescribed in connection with the first form of the invention.

It is to be understood that the forms of my egg-invention herewithshownA and described, are toV be taken as the preferred examples of thesame,l

and that various changes rinthe shape, size and arrangement of parts maybe resorted to without departing from .the spirit of my invention, or7Qg the scope of the subjoined claims.v

Having fully-described my'invention, what I claim isz- 1. Thecombination with the wear member of a shoehavingarecess'in its upperface, of a jlower attaching plate arranged within the recess and securedto the wear member and having its marginal edge bent inwardly to form agenerally U-shaped socket which is U-shaped in cross section, an upperattaching plate to be secured to the shoe `and having a free marginaledge for insertion within the socket, locking tongues carried -by the`lower attaching plate and projecting upwardly to engage with the upperattaching plate, and means whereby the lower attaching plate may be bentdownwardly with relation to the upper attaching plate for withdrawingthe locking tongues from engagement with the upper attaching plate.

l2. The combination with the rubber wear member of a `shoe having arecess in its upper face, of a lower attaching plate mounted Within therecess and having a marginal socket and anchor elements disposedinwardly of the socket and embedded within the rubber member, saidattaching plate also having a depression arranged between the anchorelements, an upper attaching plate having a marginal edge to enter thesocket. said upper attaching plate also having a tapered boss to enterthe depression' of the lower'attaching plate, means arranged within themarginal edge for attachingthe upper plate to the shoe,A

locking tongues carried by the lower plate `and adapted to engage withthe upper plate, and.V

means whereby an implement may be passed beneath the boss for separatingportions of the attaching plate and thereby shifting the lockingftongues out of engagement with the upper plate.

3. The combination with the heel member of a shoe provided at its lower`end with ya recess, of anupper attaching plate arranged within therecess and secured to the heel member and hav-` ing its marginal edge.bent inwardly to form a` generally U-shaped socket which is U-shaped incross-section, a wear member, a lower attaching.

plate secured to the wear member and having a free marginal edge forinsertion within the socket, locking tongues carried by the upperattaching plate and projecting downwardly to en-A gage with the lowerattaching plate, and means whereby the lower attaching plate may be bentdownwardly with relation to the upper attaching plate for withdrawingthe locking tongues fromengagement with the lower attaching plate'.

4. A device for detachably connecting a heel and heel member of a shoe,oomprising'a pair of resilient plates, one plate being attached to theheel and the other to the heel member, one plate having socket meanswhich is generally U-shaped in cross-section and also having a laterallyprojecting locking tongue, the other plate having a marginal edge forinsertion within the socket means, the locking tongue being adapted toengage with the companion plate tornormally p revent relativelongitudinal movement in one direction between the plates,thearrangement being to cause the locking tongue-to panion plate. A

5. A ldevice for detachably connecting a shoe disengage the commeanswhich is generally U-shaped in cross-sec-rv tion and also having arelatively shortlaterally'r projecting locking tongue arrangedadjacent-to`r` the free end of such-resilient plate and-substan' tiallywithin the length the other resilient' plate e having" a marginal edgefor insertion within the of such' resilient plate,`

v such that one plate may be bodily ilexed laterally ing tongue beingadapted to engage with the companion plate adjacent to its free end toprevent relative longitudinal movement in one direction between the twoplates, the arrangement being such that one plate may be bodily flexedlaterally at its free end from the companion plate to cause the lockingtongue to disengage the other plate.

6. A device for `detachably connecting a shoe part and Wear member,comprising a pair of plates, one of said plates being resilient, oneplate being attached to the shoe part and the other plate to the wearmember, one plate having marginal socket means which is generally

